Buzzkill - oddball era

Instagram is a useful source of inspiration if you use it to your advantage. I follow a lot of artists and illustrators, and when I come across their t-shirt designs, I am both in awe and envious of what they can spit out.

I’ve tried to do the “screenprinted t-shirt” thing on Etsy but it’s too much work for what I want to put into it, and really just doesn’t seem worth it. You gotta love it enough to do it because screenprinting can be quite a hassle. This is why I like sites like Redbubble and Society6. They do the work for you and all you have to do is to create the content. I love doing fan art, and people love buying fan art. The down side is that the corporations and top guys think they own the rights to people faces (mostly artists and entertainers), and as a result I’ve had three original pieces taken down.

These three to be exact:

Most recent was the Twin Peaks design (#03) which was my favorite thing ever. I’ve even received some “fan mail” from people who claimed it was the best thing they’ve bought on Redbubble. It’s a great and encouraging feeling having someone buy something you made, but it takes it one step further when they contact you about it. It doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is to me.

So when one of my most popular designs was taken down, I considered fighting it. In the end, I concluded I didn’t have that fight in me and it didn’t seem worth it considering how much stuff you have to fill out claiming the artwork didn’t violate rules and whatnot. Which makes me wonder if it’s even worth it to post up more other fan art if there’s potential it may be removed.

I’m considering branching out. People seem to love typography on shirts, and typography is just fun to play with. So I just did my thing and put together this little graphic. The design originated from a doodle I did at work and the idea popped up in my head. I love when things like that happen.

Sometimes I feel like a buzzkill, and I’m cool with that.